True Legend Directed by: Woo-ping Yuen Starring: Man Cheuk Chiu, David Carradine, Jay Chou, Andy On, Michelle Yeoh Rating: R Release Date: May 13, 2011 (Expanding)
TRAILER SCORE: 5/10
Thoughts by TSR: To half of my surprise, the headbanging guitars only come in at the end.
Much like the final product may resemble, this trailer is a flurry of images that look appealing, but don't seem to tie together much. Meaning, I have very little idea what the story could be for this trailer after a couple of glances, but at least my eyes are curious about the visuals. (And I think it's fair to say that audiences are immune to a simple usage of the word "destiny.") Indeed, this is from someone who was an integral creative force for films like Kill Bill and The Matrix trilogy (director Yuen).
As vague as a teaser but as long as a full preview, this trailer is just an assortment of whipping legs sound design, and the visuals of human beings defying physics in some way. It doesn't seem like there could be much of a story at all - it looks more like a rock 'n roll type of martial arts movie that soaks up the "cool" possibilities of the genre, and feeds its action fan audience with as much slow motion as 300. In that regard this movie looks a bit silly, and further shows that wire usage is much less impressive than true stunt work. Towards the beginning of this trailer I had hopes that this might look like a Tony Jaa movie (The Protector, Ong Bak) which uses slow motion to accent its pure stunt work. Instead, this looks more like an American's fantastical interpretation of the martial arts subgenre, with the inclusion of muscly gray behemoths that look like they could have come from comic books, for example.
Very casually, this movie presents faces that could be argued as pretty significant. David Carradine appears in the beginning, and Michelle Yeoh later on, but they're underplayed like they're just extras. Wouldn't action fans actually care about this appearance? But the real star front and center here is the fancy squabbling as tag-teamed by flying critic quotes that proclaim this movie to be "awesome," etc. While the visuals of this might be able to hold some awe, it seems like this movie will more than likely be truly silly. Sounds like this film (which is in limited release) will be best when its available for streaming on Instant Netflix in a few months.